As co-op leaders gathered in Ottawa last week to celebrate a centenary, they saw a chance for the movement to be a growing part of an old idea becoming new again.
The local food movement, a consumer reaction to the globalization of the food system, has become a multibillion-dollar business in Canada and co-operatives see an opportunity.
A survey by the Canadian Co-operative Association celebrating 100 years last week found more than 2,300 local food initiatives across Canada, 10 percent of them co-operatives.
“Co-operatives have a long history in helping producers market their products and meet consumer demand,” said the report.
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“Co-operative grocery stores represent the largest percentage of co-operatives involved in local food initiatives, followed closely by farmers’ market co-operatives.”
With a growing consumer appetite to buy local as their great-grandparents did, the CCA study predicted the movement will expand.
“We anticipate and hope that co-operatives will be part of that growth.”
At a workshop on local food during the CCA annual meeting June 18, Doreen Collins from the Ontario agriculture and food ministry said it is estimated that local food initiatives contribute up to $3 billion to the Canadian economy.
She said customers are attracted by how it helps local farmers and the economy, offers fresher food and higher quality.
Marie-Paule Robichaud of the Quebec co-operatives council said it is the model many Quebec local food projects use.
“Co-ops are more mission oriented than money oriented and it fits,” she said. “Their mission is to offer a service. Local consumption is not a trend. It is a new social model, a new way to organize and live your life.”
Meanwhile, the CCA used the meeting to announce the Canadian voted the “greatest Canadian co-operator.”
Alphonse Desjardins, the founder of the Quebec-based Caisse Desjardins system of credit unions that now is expanding across Canada, won the honour in an online vote. He died in 1920.
The Desjardins Group is Canada’s sixth largest financial institution.
The 2009 Canadian Co-operative Achievement Award went to Glen Tully, president of Federated Co-operatives Ltd. based in Saskatoon.
